Divsion42: Republic City's Finest RPG Game turned Fanfic
by spauldingupdandilions
Summary: Republic City reels after two blood bending surgeons accidentally discover a way to give people bending. Could this be the key to ending bender and nonbenders tensions or will it be used for evil? These are the adventures of Division42, nerds who roleplay as the answer for anything Republic City's seedy underworld can throw. Their DM wrote the game recaps as fan fiction.
1. Chapter 1: Victim and Villain

_These are the adventures of __**Division42**__, a team of nerds who role play as if they are Republic City's answer for anything it's seedy underworld can throw. They use a free system called Fate Accelerated, which is comparable to D&D except all its materials are free, because in addition to being big damn heroes they are all broke-ass cheapskates. Their Dungeon Master (DM) has too much time on her hands and wrote up the session recaps as if it were traditional fan fiction. The background music played during the game is noted in case the reader wants listen to it while they read. These crazy ass shenanigans happen both in the GM's living room and in the Republic City police force shortly after the events of Legend of Korra, Season 1. So if you haven't seen Season 1 there's going to be a lot of spoilers… go away. _

**Session 1: Victim & Villain**

_Cue Jazz music on Pandora Radio for effect_

It had been a few days since their last adventure capturing the sex slavers when Beifong called the mixed-bender team of Division 42 to her office. Their southern water bender, Kairos, had the day off and their nonbending, former equalist partner, Daeyoon Tao had recued herself from service for the time being to go take care of a sick family member in the countryside of The Earth Kingdom. Old man Lee Wong had been on the force since Chief Toph's reign. He'd known Chief Lin Beifong when she was a teenager so he wasn't nearly as intimidated of her as the rest of his team. So it was Lee Wong that asked Chief Beifong if anything further had been found out about the supposed corrupt cop in their ranks. When they'd captured the sex-slaving ringleader, Houza only a few days ago, she'd been yapping her head off about how she'd already paid her police protection money. Beifong waved Lee Wong's question away, her eyes fixed on the report in her hands.

"I've got a team doing an internal affairs investigation on it. Just be sure not to mention what Houza said to any of the other police officers or you'll alert the rat—if there even is one. It's quite possible Houza just wanted to unsettle you." Then she put down her report and turned her steely eyes on Lee Wong and Senna. "I want you to handle a new case. Lee, you're our most experienced detective, and Senna you've proven yourself to be a prodigy with one of the highest arrest rates in the force." Senna stood up a little straighter and tried not to look too pleased. "I need you both on this case, and it'll be a good chance for you to show the new recruits the basics of in-field detective work. They've already proven themselves in combat but they're still untried at a lot of basic field work. I'm counting on you two to be in charge, and I'll know who to blame if anything goes wrong." Her tone did not change but Senna's smugness quickly went down her throat like old soup. Lee Wong just kept smiling, his hands resting gently on his cane, his hunched back making look even more like somebody's grandpa. Jinsu, ever the tallest one, was standing behind him and could even hear the old man humming faintly to himself. He wondered if his superior was even listening to the police chief.

Beifong continued as if she hadn't noticed "The problem is this: I am worried that we might have a serial killer on the loose, and, worse yet, we think he might already have his next victim, one of our own: Jin Ro. A person who I believe you, Jinsu, and Senna, are familiar with.

"I knew him too," piped up Lee Wong, catching Jinsu off guard. Lee Wong nodded slowly and leaned on his cane with both hands. "I taught the hand-to-hand combat course at the police academy when he was there. He was terrible at it."

"I saw him around the police academy and he seemed a nice polite sort of guy," said Senna. She was the only one standing at attention but Beifong didn't seem to notice. Maybe, Senna thought, she was too distracted by how shabby Hachikura's uniform was. She left her front jacket unbuttoned, her belt loose and lopsided around her hips and she was covered in soot stains, consequence of a bad attempt at firebending her tea that morning. But the police chief was looking at Jinsu now.

"I didn't really know him that well," said Jinsu. The tall earthbender chewed his lower lip and chanced a glance at Beifong as if her military stare made him nervous. The formalities of the police station still seemed foreign to him. Back at Cabbage Corp he'd been in charge of several branches but he'd never insisted on the sort of protocol Senna was always expounding on.

Beifong nodded, "Well, he had to drop out of the force shortly after joining. He was diagnosed with a terminal tumor in his abdomen. The healers said there was nothing they could do and he'. He's been missing for a few hours now and he fits the victim profile this killer goes after. I want you to start by questioning the forensic doctor at Iroh City Hospital. His name is Morin and he'll fill you in on the specifics of the case."

Outside the station sat their older model police Sato-mobile. "Which of you can drive?" Senna asked.

Hachikura glanced down the street and bit her lip, no doubt remembering the car chase from a few days ago. She'd taken out the suspect's car almost single-handedly but when it had crashed into their car they'd woken up hanging from the ceiling butt-naked in the kidnapper's basement. Kairos has water-bent them some conveniently-concealing clouds but Hachi still seemed shaken up by the incident.

"You used to work at Sato Industries, Hachi; I bet you know how to drive." Senna tossed her the keys.

"Yeah, but I'd rather keep my hands free in case we run into trouble." She said and tossed the keys back to her. Jinsu and Lee Wong immediately put their fingers to their noses.

"Not it!" they said, as seriously as they could with their fingers squashing their faces. Senna rolled her eyes and got in the driver's seat. When the others piled in she heard a sudden piercing "MEOW." Her head whipped around to the back where Lee Wong was furiously trying to stuff the head of a stray cat back down his coat. Apparently the hump on his back wasn't real.

"Get that cat out of the car!"

"But he's hungry," said Lee Wong scratching the stray behind the ears.

"He'll get cat hair all over the seats and then I'll have to be the one to pick it up!"

After the cat had been deposited back on the street, with a dish of milk and canned fish purchased at the corner market, Senna put the pedal to the gas.

When they got to the morgue a tall, green eyed, sallow skinned man greeted them with a low monotoned, "Are you here about the bodies?" drawing his vowels out like they were dirty underpants.

"Hey Morin!" said Lee Wong grinned. "How's the neice?"

"Oh she's allright. She's second place in her chess tournament."

"Well my grandkids…." _And then Lee Wong proceed into a long boring account of what all his 15 grandkids were up too until the GM told him to shut up._

"Well," said Lee Wong after shrugging off the insult. "Have you gotten out much lately."

"Once this week, but that was a mistake. My _'friends—" he drew out the word like it was a bad smell— "_ insisted that go out and"—he shuddered—"_Socialize."_

Senna shook her head. "Nothing good ever happens when you do that." Morin turned his wide lampgreen eyes on her, paused for a moment, and said, "Indeed. That's what I told them but they were all like, 'Nooo Moorin, you MUST come do the conga!"

Senna shook her head again. "Oh don't do the conga. That's never a good idea."

Morin stared at her a second longer and then said, in a softer voice, "Ms. Senna, are you perhaps, _single_?"

Senna smiled, "Why, yes, in fact I am."

Hachikura gave a dry cough. "Um, can we get back to work here please? You two can flirt later- preferably when nobody is here to be psychologically scarred by it."

"Yes, we're here about the possible serial killer," said Senna.

"Ahhh, yes, I was the one who notified the police of a possible serial killer. It took me a while to realize that it might in fact be one because of the strange way in which the victim profiles are connected. There have been five deaths so far that I've been able to ascertain, and they all were found shortly after the Full Moon, which is not so strange. There is always the occasional blood bending related homicide come moon tide so at first I thought it nothing that they all had died from blood bending related injuries. That sort of thing is really the bread and butter of my job"

"How can you tell they died from blood bending?" Morin smiled at Senna as if she had asked him his favorite question.

"A few of them only died from aneurisms—those are the hardest to track but they had other wounds, where the skin was torn in a manner that suggested that the pressure came from within the body and not without. Some of them have weird injuries, as if the blood in their veins decided to pop out at random points in their body. Others had blood clots all up and down their legs so they must have been in great pain before death. One of the more—" he stopped as if savoring the moment— "picturesque bodies had half his face blown off from blood pressure alone. When I discovered what connected the victims it made their manner of death all the more puzzling."

"And what connected the victims?" asked Hachikura.

"All of them had mortal illness or injuries but they didn't die from them. All were missing a few hours before their bodies were found. They were already going to die and yet they were killed in such brutal and painful ways. It is… a puzzle."

"Why would you kill someone who was already going to die?" murmured Jinsu.

"And in a way that causes such pain?" said Senna.

"Perhaps we're dealing with a euthanasia practitioner," suggested Lee Wong.

"The bodies showed up in the old south firebender district. I can give you the address of the newest victim's family."

"I think we should go to the Old South Firebender district and look around for clues first." Lee Wong leaned on his cane with both hands and looked at Senna for her input. Hachikura and Jinsu glanced awkwardly at each other and waited for their more experienced partners to make the decision. Senna was nodding thoughtfully.

"Yeah, maybe we can check out the place that the last body was found." They headed back out and Senna slipped her phone number to Dr. Morin before they left while the rest of her team tried to convince themselves they hadn't just seen that.

_here the DM turned off the Pandora jazz channel and switched to the Bladerunner Soundtrack channel_

Evening was descending quickly as the team approached the Old South Firebender District, once the home to rich elite Fire Nation citizens, back when Republic City was called "Yu Dao" and the Earth Kingdom's resources were more than forcefully pooled into rich residential districts like this. But those were the better days for this part of town. Many of the buildings were abandoned and derelict. The streets were strewn with trash and urchins that ran through it like packs of deer through a silent wood. Only a single well-lite ramen stood sat in the corner of the cul-de-sac. A few factory workers and labormen stood around it chatting and eating their ramen. Senna drove their old sato-mobile in with the windows rolled half way down.

Senna, who was the only who has read all the way through the documented details of the case, approached the alleyway off to the side of the ramen stand. She knew that was where they found one of the bodies, hidden underneath a pile of trash. As she investigated the area for clues the ramen vender shouted at her.

"Hungry? It's half off for cops, especially if you're taking the time to clean up this district. Scary stuff going on around here lately."

Nearer the cop car a street kid tugged on Lee Wong's pant's leg. "Hey Grandpa, how's the leg?" … "How much would you pay to walk again? You lookin for a miracle?**"** Lee Wong squatted down so he was eye level with the street kid, who looked to be around 8 years of age. He showed him the photos of the victims when they were alive.

"Have you seen any of these people here abouts?" he asked, smiling as if the kid were one of his own fifteen grandchildren.

The kid peered nearsightedly at the photos and then said, "I seen that guy around but not for a while now. I used ta see him around that ole ramen shop." At this Senna gave the bowl of broth sitting on the stove a nasty look and went up to the vender. She showed him the same list of pictures and asked if he's seen any of these people. The vender only gave the photos a glance and then gave his stove a sour look.

"Yeah, that last one was me brother." When he looked up at Senna again the light from the oven's fire reflected in his own. "You know he still had a good six months left. He coulda done it right, made peace with his family, maybe save up a little something for his kids but no. He has to go prancing off to some damn con-man, promising miracles. See that's why we need more cop patrols around this area. People disappearing and showing up later with half their faces blown open… If he hadn't started getting mixed up in Miraclist hoo-doo he'd still be around. I want that con-artist caught."

"Naw-uuh!" piped up the street kid. "The Miraclist is good! He saves people! The ramen vender rolled his eyes at him.

"The world's a lot tougher than you think kid."

Lee Wong smiled again. "Can you show us where The Miraclist is?"

The kid stuck his lower lip and his eyebrows bent down the shake hands with each other. "Maybe… if you're willin to pay for it. And you have to promise that you're not gonna arrest him and take him away. Then all the miracles will be gone."

Senna came over and smiled super sweetly. "We're not going to arrest him. We want to find him so that he can fix this old man's leg."

"Yeah," said Hachikura, piping up, "Why else would police officers be down here at this time of night?"

The kid regarded them carefully and then nodded. "Yeah, police officers never come down here. I know you guys wouldn't want to work too hard or anything." Jinsu who folded his arms and rolled his eyes, but he kept his temper in check.

The kid led them to a big seven story warehouse with a front door and boarded up windows. It was clear at first glance that the building was abandoned. He pointed at the front door and said, "I don't know what he looks like but people go in there sick and they come out walking."

"Thanks kid but our guy is already walking," snapped Senna. The kid frowned and folded his arms, took his coin and left. The team then debated on whether or not to barge in or sneak in or come in openly and fake as patients and have Lee Wong walk in boldly.

"Well regardless," said Jinsu. "I'm not letting anybody get out without our say so." He turned, stopped the ground with a forceful uppercut and a wall of rocky earth slid up in a fence around the building.

Senna peeked through the front door and saw a dark empty foyer with one door at the end, and a faint light coming through it. They entered into the foyer and then peeked through the next door. There was a long dark hallway littered with trash and debris and metal filiments. At the end of the hallway stood a half open door with a bright light showing through it. As they watched a figure passed the door carrying something long. It turned in his wrist and the light reflected down the hall off his large polished knife.

While the others began to debate what to do first Hachikura gathered some of the metal debris lying around and mcguyvered a small hand-bomb. Since Lee Wong was the sneakiest he said he should try to creep down the hallway. He made it about half way down but knocked over a small bin. After the clatter died down they heard a voice from the room say, "Hold on, let me finish this and you can go check on it in a second." Seeing that their cover was about to be blown Hachikura decided they had only one option for surprising them.

"POLICE COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!" she shouted. Her teammates had about a second to shoot double takes at the huge sound that had come out of their smallest team member before a man burst through the door. He shouted, "I'll hold them off, you get out quick, we'll get the next one!" The man wore a surgical mask over his face and his long doctor's coat had blood on it. He then raised his hands and Hachi felt her body go stiff and she realized she couldn't move. Senna used her water whip to hit the man on the side of the head. Her blow broke his concentration and released Hachi from his blood bending hold. She threw the hand bomb and the darkness of the corridor fractured into jagged pieces of light that faded away into an even darker blindness. Lee Wong swung at the shape of the man with his cane. The figure dodged it but Jinsu took advantage of the distraction. A solid column of rock shot out of the earth at an angle, hitting the man square in the head. The man's neck snapped back and he collapsed on the cold floor.

The team burst through the door behind him. The room was bare concrete and perfectly circular. The full moon shown down through a round skylight above them and centered below its gaze Jin Ro lay cut and open on a table. A woman wearing a surgical mask stood over him.

"No, you can't stop me now!" she cried but Senna quickly used water from a nearby barrel to freeze her in place. The woman could not speak but her eyes flickered between the team mates frantically. And then they heard Jin Ro's voice, soft and weak.

"Who's there?" Senna came to his side. The thrill of victory tall on her shoulders.

"It's okay, Jin Ro, we'll get you to a hospital."

"No! Please!" His voice seemed to leaked out of him "The people at the hospital can't do anything. If you stop them now you'll kill me!"

"What? No Jin, these people are criminals. They were going to kill you."

"They're saving me. I came to them. They are the only ones who can save me."

"The healers at the hospital can save you." Senna's voice was getting smaller.

"I met them at the hospital." Senna stared at him a crease between her eyes. The whole team fell still. "The healers said I had a tumor. They tried everything but there was nothing they could do. These doctors said they could help me."

"Jin Ro," Senna's voice was almost pleading, "They've killed five people."

"I know, and they saved twenty. I met their other patients."

"Who? Do you know their names?" asked Lee.

"Lin, Po, Mon, and another, a man named Kanju."

At the mention of his adversary's name Lee Wong frowned and nodded. "I know these people. These are real people."

"Please let them finish," begged Jin Ro. "If you don't you'll kill me. You'll kill me."

"I still don't know if I trust these guys," said Senna.

"Ask them, ask them," wheezed Jin Ro. Looking doubtful, Senna unfroze the woman's face and pulled off her surgical mask.

"My name is Dr. Quenna Miin," she said. "Please let me finish the surgery or he'll die."

"Why are you doing this?"

"I am from the Northern Water Tribe, and my partner is Dr. Quon Lo. He's from the Southern Water Tribe. Growing up we were taught that blood bending was evil. At a young age we both independently discovered that we had the ability to blood bend but we did not use it because we believed what our elders taught us. But when we enrolled in medical school we began to realize what good potential blood bending had for medicine. We met, became friends and decided to explore this together. We worked to refine our bending, mixing and separating water and oil, then vinegar and water. It was hard because we could only really practice with blood once a month. We tried our first surgeries on each other, just small things at first, like holding back the blood while we stitched up a cut. As we grew more confident in our abilities and as we gained more experience at work we knew we were ready. Our first patient had tried everything and nothing worked. We approached him in secret and we told him the risks. But he agreed. He said he had nothing to lose. We were successful, and he is still alive to this day. Please don't turn us in. Please let us finish this before the moon sets or Jin Ro will die."

After a moment of stunned silence the team agreed but Senna was still suspicious. "Do I have to unfreeze all of you?" she asked Dr. Miin.

"You can leave my legs frozen if you like but I need to have my hands and torso free to continue blood bending, and I'll need my partner Dr. Quon Lo's help too." Senna grumbled but released the doctor from the ice while another team member woke Dr. Quon. The team huddled outside while the surgery continued but Senna demanded she stay in the room with the doctors while they worked, just to make sure. Outside the door the team found Jin Ro's clothes folded up and a photo of him and the other team members back at the Police academy. It was crumpled and worn from touch, like a good-luck charm.

When the surgery was finished the doctors came out to talk to the police team."It went well, said Dr. Miin. I think he'll be allright, sore and weak for a few days but he'll heal up fine." Hachikura let out a tight breath of relief.

"So what are you going to do with us now?" asked Dr. Quenna Miin.

"You'll have to come with us to the station," said Lee Wong.

"No, please don't tell your boss. They'll shut us down and then more people will die. Bloodbending is illegal," pleaded Dr. Miin.

"What would you have us do? Tell Beifong we couldn't find anything?"

"Yes, don't tell her."

"But someone will find you eventually. A surgery will fail and you'll have to hide another body again."

"We'll burn them from now on, there won't be anything left to find."

"But you'll still have people going missing every full moon," said Hachikura. "We need to take you to the station."

"Yeah," Jinsu nodded and pushed his glasses back up his nose "It seems to me that it's not our job to determine or pass judgment on this. That is for the courts to decide."

Dr. Quon Lo nodded at him. "I agree," he said. "I've always thought that if we could have the right backing or influence blood bending wouldn't be so stigmatized as it is now. Our former patients can defend us and you guys can tell them what happened here."

"We'll go with you if you insist," said Dr. Quenna Miin, "but please don't. You don't know what it's like, telling your patient that they have to die, when you still have the power to save them."

"I'm sorry," said Jinsu, he sounded almost like the CEO he used to be, his voice and face firm and diplomatic. His tone seemed to help the doctors understand better than anything he actually said. "But" he continued, "it's not for us to decide this. I think we need we need to take you two downtown." The rest of the team nodded. The doctors looked at each other once and then, slowly, held out their hands to be cuffed.

end Bladerunner background music & cue Pandora Jazz channel again

A few weeks pass in which they heard no news of what happened to Dr.s Miin and Lo when, one day Jin Ro stopped by with an invitation to an awards ceremony.

"I gathered all of the other twenty patients they saved and we defended them to the court," he said. "They had to pay some fines but otherwise the courts let them off. Now the hospital is unveiling a new clinic where they are going to let Dr. Miin and Lo work. It'll have all the newest equipment and proper funding. They'll be able to pursue their blood bending medicine properly now, though within regulations and while reporting all their actions of course. The city is holding an award ceremony for them and all the old patients are going to be there. The doctors wanted you guys to come too."

Beifong, who was passing by gave them a sadistic smirk. "Enjoy the pomp and circus team. I expect you to show a good face for the police force." Senna groaned and put her head on her desk.

Senna was still looking peeved as she sat in the crowd of the awards ceremony, fidgeting morosely in the one dress she owned. Hachikura laughed at her. "Why would you even own a dress!" she chortled. Just then a finger tapped her on her shoulder and she turned around.

"Excuse me," said a man who looked as if he belonged in some some university office. "We," he gestured the two fellows next to him, "Are from the hospital. We've heard that though you were Sato Industries best electricity bender you cannot in actuality fire bend. I have bet these two gentlemen that this could not possibly be so. Can you please fire bend for us and enlighten these two fellows here of their pockets?"

"Umm," Hachi bit her lip. "Are you sure?"

"Just do your best. Your electricity bending and engineering work at Sato industries is legendary, you must be a superb firebender."

"Well, okay." Hachi shrugged, brought her hands together and furrowed her brow in concentration. Senna ducked under a chair as a raging fireball exploded and knocked over the row in front of her. At the epicenter sat a very grumpy Hachi, her hair singed and most of her left eyebrow missing. The three gentlemen seemed frozen in shock. One of them blinked, shook himself, and nudged the other.

"Allright you seen, pay up now!"

Senna hid her smile as Hachi doused a flame still burning faintly in her hair.

Over on the other end of the row Lee Wong was busy trying to coddle up job opportunities for his grandkids. He pulled out a picture wallet and when it unfolded to show his progeny it reached the ground and then some. But then the orchestra began to play and the audience quieted down. Katara hobbled up to the microphone to give the opening speech. Hachikura, though, was staring at her partner. Senna's mouth was twitching and she seemed to be struggling to keep from showing some less-than-professional emotion.

"My husband was always remarkable in that he could see the good where others only saw their own pain. Even I often fell victim to my own hatred and hurt. But these doctors have reminded me of the principles with which my husband approached all people. When I discovered blood bending it was at the hands of a murderer, a poor old woman driven to acts of terror. These doctors have shown me that what was in her need not be in the power of bending itself. It is rather, how we use our power that distinguishes us. Even after all I have seen in my long life, these two doctors have been a light in the darkness, a beacon of hope to an old woman. That goodness and compassion will live on in the world, long after I leave it."

At the close of the speech Senna stood up, clapping furiously, her left eye twitching as she struggled to keep impassive. Hachi pulled her down and whispered, "Hold on to yourself, fan girl!"

As Hachi helped Senna get a hold of herself something odd happened to the music. Though the rest of the orchestra was playing a cheery marching beat, the cello started playing a different tune. At first nobody noticed because the orchestra hid the sound but as the other band members realized what their celloist was doing they fell silent to turn and stare and listen.

_Cue the 'The Rains of Castamere'—No. The DM ACTUALLY stopped the Pandora Jazz channel and started playing 'The Rains of Castamere' on youtube. This link in fact /OVOf6HEur5Y _

Around the open air plaza people pulled Equalists masks over their faces. Even the celloist reached up and pulled a mask over his face. As the music echoed across the tile, equalists rushed toward the stage. Senna gasped and ran forward through the fleeing crowd. But she'd needn't have worried. Tenzin was by his mother's side in an instant and pulled her away to safety. The other members of the council were scattering too.

Confident that her hero was safely out of the way Senna wiped her face with her sleeve and then raising her arms as if she were casting and drawing in a net, she pulled water from a nearby fountain out onto the ground in a hard slick sheet of ice. A few of the equalists stumbled but then they adjusted and went straight after her. Hachikura saw them coming giggling manaically as she stood upon her folded chair she cast out a surge of lightning from her fingers that effectively fried all of their electric gloves.

"Silly eqaulists," she chortled. "I used to work at Sato Industries. I know exactly how to handle their tech."

Despite their singed fingers the first group of equalists reached Senna and quickly chi blocked her. She tried to scatter them with her water whip but nothing happened. Over by where the orchestra had fled a second group of equalists raised their bows and took aim at Jinsu. He dodged them though and five earth pillars catapulted the archers into the stratosphere. cue Team Rocket sound effects

Lee Wong snuck up behind the third group of chi-blockers and within two seconds and blur of an old man's wooden cane, all of them but one had been knocked out. The last one though was able to chi-block his arm so that he dropped his cane.

Suddenly from two directions, two small speedy zeppelins appeared in the air above the plaza and ropes carrying more chi-blockers began to descend from above.

The first group of sindged equalists, their broken gloves now useless, attacked Hachikura whose cackles of glee were quickly turned into cries that went more along the lines of, "Wait, I can't do this, somebody come get me out of here!" Luckily she was as quick to move as she was to cry and dodging their attacks gained a little distance from them.

Once free of chi-blockers her devilish grin returned as she looked above her. The zeppelins were far above her but she mustered all her strength (and stats), aimed and fired. It was as if Thor had landed. A giant bolt of lightning shot up from her diminutive form and hit western zeppelin right in the navigation controls. It began to waver and careen slightly to the left.

Taking advantage of the distraction Senna tried to forcefully attack the equalists but they dodged her attacks easily. She wasn't used to fighting without water bending and in another chi-blocking attack she passed out cold on the plaza tiles. Hachikura watched, horrified as a rope from the yet undamaged eastern zeppelin descended and Senna was quickly tied and hoisted up into the enemy ship. Jinsu pulled out a massive earth bending column, tilted it sideways and rammed it into the last group of chi blockers. But far down at the other end of the plaza Lee Wong was still dodging the last remaining chi blocker. He ducked and rolled; trying to get back his staff and regain his advantage but just as his fingers closed upon his weapon he felt blows across his back and neck. In another instant he too was being hoisted into the air. Jinsu and Hachikura looked at each other across the battlefield. Their elders were gone. They were the only ones left.

There was a shout from near the stage and when they turned around to see what was happening they saw equalists pulling the Dr.'s Quenna and Quon up from where they had knelt tending some of the wounded crowd. Hachikura and Jinsu started running but by the time they got close enough the doctors were being hoisted above their heads. One of the equalists was riding up the rope with the two Doctors, ready to defend its bounty. They weren't too far away yet though.

Jinsu could feel his temper flaring. He'd only taken the job as a police officer to get away from the loan sharks who'd been after them ever since that damned equalist spy Sato had tanked Cabbage Corp. And now a Sato-designed zeppelin had taken his friends as well. Bringing his fists down and up in a furious circle a rock pillar shot out of the ground under his feet propelling him nearly level with the ascending rope. He punched forward and rock disks slid off the top of the column and shot out at the Equalist abductor.

The masked woman flinched as the rocks hit her side, and her shoulder. Her neck twisted back when the third blow hit her face, ripping at the mask that hid her. She turned slowly back toward Jinsu and even as he landed back on earth he watched the equalist woman pull away the rest of her mask revealing a face he'd thought he'd known.

On the ground Hachikura's hands covered her mouth. "Daeyoon!" Dr Quenna and Quon also looked above them, horrified. Daeyoon glanced down at her bounty, a scar of a smile on her face.

"Do you recognize me Doctor? The patient you could not save? I tried to work within the law but even policemen don't always do that. See I never fully understood why Amon's revelation should have caused so many equalists to fall away. The principle he fought for still stands. When faced with an unequal power situation the ultimate answer isn't to find balance as the avatar so naively claims. The only solution is to destroy the power itself. But there is more than one way to do that. For what can be taken away can also be _given._" And then she stretched out her hands before her as if holding a stringed puppet. Jinsu felt himself go rigid. His body sat down and knelt before Daeyoon.

Desperate Hachikura reacted without thinking. She moved into her stance and aimed. A bolt of thin concentrated lightening left her finger tips and hit the ropes that bound Dr. Quon. He jerked violently but then tore the singed ropes from around him, jumped and rolled to the ground at the last second as Daeyoon and Dr. Quenna ascended the last few feet into the zeppelin and flew away. Jinsu felt the hold lift from him and he knew it was over. Beifong and the rest of the police force arrived shortly after but there wasn't much left for them to save.


	2. Prequel: Lee Wong's Assignment

_These are the adventures of __**Division42**__, a team of nerds who role play as if they are Republic City's answer for anything it's seedy underworld can throw. They use a free system called Fate Accelerated, which is comparable to D&D except all its materials are free, because in addition to being big damn heroes they are all broke-ass cheapskates. Their Dungeon Master (DM) has too much time on her hands and wrote up the session recaps as if it were traditional fan fiction. The background music played during the game is noted in case the reader wants listen to it while they read. These crazy ass shenanigans happen both in the GM's living room and in the Republic City police force shortly after the events of Legend of Korra, Season 1. So if you haven't seen Season 1 there's going to be a lot of spoilers… go away. _

**A Bad Way to Get a Job**

_Note from the DM: This was actually my first session as a Dungeon Master. My husband, who plays Lee Wong, let me conduct this little mini session for his character to give me a chance to practice my DM skills before I took it to the rest of the team. But I liked the story that came out of it too much not to include it here, even though it technically isn't exactly about the Divsion42 team._

He found the note tossed onto his desk. It had been flung across the aisle, the deliverer not even pausing in her stride as she marched past his detective's desk. The writing was firm and unhurried as if the writer had pressed down on the pen too hard. But then, Commander Lin Beifong's handwriting was always like that, on Birthday cards, on confirmation-of-death certificates; to the point, no flourishes. The letter simply said: "_Report to the Citadel Council room immediately_."

As he walked down the marble atrium to the council doors the click of his walking cane was soon drowned out by the muffled voices of people shouting. Lee Wong could hear the voice of his boss among the din but he didn't recognize anyone else. When he pulled open the door he saw that the four council members were seated at a long judges table at the front. Commander Beifong was standing along the left, needling her forehead while a blustery-face shouty-man in a police uniform stood gesticulating from his podium off the right side. The ceilings were high and ornate. A wall of tall windows ran across the left side of the room, casting morning light past Beifong's crossed arms and across the polished tiles of the council room. The fire bending representative was nursing a strong cup of tea and looking anywhere but at the large shouty-man on the right. Lee Wong pushed the door open the rest of the way and stepped in front of the large potted plants that stood at either side of the doorway.

Beifong spotted him first. "Ahh, Lee Wong, you're here. Now we can conduct this meeting _officially_," she threw the last word at the council members like it was cigarette butt. Lee Wong walked the rest of the way up the long room to stand at attention in the center, between Commander Beifong and the shouty man. He noticed how the council representatives seemed to stare at his walking stick and he drew himself up straight.

"That's the man!" shouted the shouty-man in the corner. "He's the one who stole my job."

"Mr. Kanju will you please be quiet," snapped the firebender representative. She yelled into her tea cup but it was loud enough to make the man snap his lips together like a bullfrog. She then waved away at her other judges to continue and breathed deep her caffeinated steam.

The earth-bender representative stood up. "Mr. Wong" he said. "You have been-"

"It's 'Detective Wong' sir."

"—Detective Wong, excuse me. You have been called here today to address the charges that Mr. Kanju has brought before us. He accuses Chief Beifong of having unjustly passed him up for the position of Captain of the special mixed bending unit that you have been appointed to, a so-called 'Division42' unit. He claims that Commander Beifong's prejudice arises from the fact of her long term association with you. Apart from this we, the members of this council, are also concerned that given your age and health this job may not be safe for a man of your abilities. Do you have anything to bring to our notice?"

Lee Wong looked from Beifong to policeman Kanju. So this was the situation. He tried to keep the exasperation from his voice and answer as genially as possible.

"I think you'll find, Council Members, that Commander Beifong cannot possibly be motivated by any long acquaintanceship with myself. True, I knew her when she was still a young teenager and she has more than earned my respect since taking over her mother's position but if you'll take a glance at my service record you'll find that I have been repeatedly overlooked for promotion both under her and under her mother." As he spoke there was shuffle of papers the council members read over the material that they undoubtedly should have read before calling him here.

After a moment the earth bender representative looked back up from his desk. "And this was because you are a nonbender, am I correct?"

"Yes sir. After Commander Toph Beifong's metal benders became a fixed institution my applications for more high risk positions went virtually ignored, both by her and by her successor." The representative nodded as he scanned the paper in front of him.

"Yes, I can see that here from your service record. And that is why you tested into the detective program instead?"

"Yes sir." It was the Northern water representative that spoke next.

"But, Detective Wong, this only serves to highlight our initial concerns. As a nonbender and man of your age, this position may be much too dangerous for you."

"Yeah my little girl could beat him up!"

"Mr. Kanju—" but the Northern water representative's rebuke was interrupted by a loud "BANG!" The Fire Bender representative had slammed his gavel down and was glaring at Mr. Kanju over the smoking remains of her teacup. Mr. Kanju sat down immediately.

"Yes, about that. Despite my age, my position as the hand-to-hand combat instructor at the police academy should assure you of my abilities. Furthermore, having a more experienced member on a new team like this often brings more advantages than disad-" a loud grating groan reverberated at him from across the room and Lee Wong turned just in time to see a large de-potted plant hurtling towards his face. He barely had time to think to dodge when it hit him square in the nose and exploded in a shower of gravel and leaves. Lee Wong spat out the dust from his mouth and when he had cleared his eyes of soot he saw a small pigtailed girl standing where plant once stood. Her legs splayed out and her nose runny.

"You stole my daddy's job!" she shouted at him.

"Honey Bear!" exclaimed Kanju, throwing his arms open to catch her as she ran across room and jumped into his arms."

"Mr. Kanju will you kindly restrain your daughter?" said the Northern water representative, her voice firm but a grin danced on the edge of her lips.

"Yes ma'm," Mr. Kanju nodded and patted his daughter's head.

The representative turned back towards Lee Wong. "Mr. Wong as unfortunate as this incident is it only serves to highlight how valid our concerns for your safety are. A captain of this team has to be able to respond to unplanned situations."

Lee Wong nodded politely as she spoke but his mouth was thin. "No," he looked her in the eyes as he spoke. "I do not see how this proves anything. My record and work history should speak for itself. Though Chief Beifong has had no scruples about passing me up for promotion before now she clearly thought I was the right person for the job. I think the real question here is why the Council, of all things, is involving themselves in Chief Beifong's affairs." There was awkward silence as most of the council members suddenly found no reason to look the defendant in the eye, all except for the fire bending representative, who finally seemed to have achieved a normal state of consciousness.

"Thank you for your testimony, Mr. Wong." Her gaze was steady. "You may return to your duties at the station. You will be notified of the Council's decision shortly."

Lee Wong fought with his feelings of doom at work for the rest of the day and when he returned home he found a letter notifying him of his removal from the captaincy. His wife took one look at his face and, without knowing what had happened, reached across the table to grip his hand.

…

The next morning he walked to work the way he did every morning. The main street was crowded with venders setting up their wares and factory workers catching a cup of tea before work. He was scarcely a block away from his flat when he spotted the two brutes in trenchcoats following him. He didn't react. He kept walking the same pace. This was a crowded street. He was wearing a police uniform. They could do nothing.

When they got close enough to him he heard one of them say, "Hey, Old Guy," but he kept walking. One of them brushed up past his shoulder and came even with him. His hands in his pockets, his legs leaning, the brute began to push at Lee Wong, as if to veer him off course. Up ahead Lee Wong could see the opening to a small alleyway off the main road. If the brute shoved hard he might force Lee Wong into it. Lee Wong pushed back and the two struggled tight-lipped and furious on the crowded street. People walked by them, hurrying on their way, not glancing up. As they came level with the alley Lee Wong gave a mightly shove and the brute next to him stumbled back. But before he could feel quite safe enough the other brute behind him grabbed his shoulder and shoved him into the dark mouth of the alley.

It was a narrow space here, barely wide enough for two men. The brick walls on either side loomed above his head like cave walls. Even the sounds of the main road seemed to dull in the darkness. "Hey." The brute's voice was like ground rice. A big hand went up and unfastened the top button of his trench coat. The cloth folded away revealing the burnished bronze badge of a Republic City Police Officer. "Mr. Kanju has a message for ya."

Lee Wong struck before the man had time to react, and while he was wheezing on the ground the second brute ran at him with his fists swinging. The first blow hit him square in the shoulder but the ringing was not as loud as what was happening in his head. Brandishing his cane like a sword he took a crack at the man's ribs. He missed and the second blow hit his head. Lee Wong blinked through the pain and struck at the brute's neck. But just as the second man was collapsing to the ground he felt his hands being grabbed and tied behind him. He turned. The first brute had recovered and must have doubled back around the building to get behind him. Lee Wong felt the brick wall of alley way shove into him as his captor tightened the knots.

Next he was being shoved through a rusted door in the alleyway and marched down two flights of steps into a basement. He heard the crowd about half way down. The basement was large and crowded. The men smelled like they had been partying all night. Broken bottles litered the ground. In the center of the room above the sweating heads was a boxing ring, and shouty-man Kanju was standing square in the center of it.

The brutes forced him up the steps and into the ring while Kanju started whipping up the crowd.

"Thought you could get the better of me, didja old man? You nearly made me look like a fool in front of the council. Well you wanna fight? Let's fight." And he lifted up his fists. Lee Wong felt fingers at his wrists as he was unbound.

"Give him his cane!" shouted a punch-happy voice and he Lee felt the cool wood of his weapon slipped into his hand. Around him the crowd took bets and shouted insults. He rolled his wrists testing their strength.

"They're going to need to send you to the Northern water tribe, to get the best healers to repair your jaw," he said cooly.

Kanju's face reddened. "Think you're being smart, huh? Look around you old man there's no where to go." And then he swung but Lee Wong was not where he had been a moment before. A loud crack announced the blow across Kanju's wrist and he squealed in the fracture. Unfortunately Kanju still had his other hand. He swung an uppercut that just missed Lee's nose as he stepped back out of the way. The rope barrier touched his back and he felt the fingers of someone in the crowd grasping at his heels. Kanju's eyes were furious and animal. Lee Wong drew back his fist. His punch landed squarely between the eyes and a spirt of blood shot out of his nose. Kanju faltered, regained his feet and in the next moment he was out cold on the mat. The crowd around him exploded but Lee Wong's head was still ringing too much to register. When he looked up it was to see uniformed police officers swarming through the door. The crowd fled like cockroaches, through back exits but Lee Wong could care less about them. Chief Beifong and Council Representative Tenzin came up to him. Tenzin's mouth was hanging open.

"We caught the last of it," said Beifong. "That was quite a punch."

"Quite a—" Tenzin broke off as if he couldn't believe himself enough to say it. Beifong's toe turned Kanju's face over until she could see him.

"This guy again!" she snorted. "This is the underground boxing leader?" she spat. "Figures."

Tenzin shook his head and seemed to regain some of his composure. He turned smartly to Lee Wong. "Forget this guy. The council won't be able to say a word against you after this.I think you've more than proved you can handle yourself. Congratulations on your new post Captain," and then he shook Lee Wong's hand.


	3. Chapter 2: Choices

**Session 2: Choices**

When Jinsu opened his eyes the next morning sour regret slipped from his open eyelids down to his stomach. He lay in bed for a few moments trying to fall back asleep to forget that his friends Senna and Lee Wong were captured, to forget the look on Dr. Quon Lo's face as he watched his partner disappear up into the equalist airship. To forget the moment when his partner—former partner, had forced him to kneel before her like a slave. But he couldn't ignore it. Not if he was going to get his friends back. If Beifong had found any leads to ending this nightmare he'd find out at work. He and Hachikura had wanted to stay for the night shift but Beifong insisted they go home and sleep.

Jinsu sat up. The place was small and dark and far from the large three storied mansion he'd used to live in, back when he was the head engineer at Cabbage Corp. He had one window in his one-room flat and a quick glance at it told him sunrise was still a ways off. He checked the clock above his door. If he left now he'd reach the station at a reasonable time before sunrise. Beifong couldn't turn him away then.

Jinsu stood up, folded the mat and blankets off the floor, and stuffed them in a closet. When he pulled out his uniform he froze. The coat and pants were still wrinkled from the day before, still heavy with the smoke, earth, and freezer burn of yesterday's bending battle. He dropped them and breathed heavy to get the smell out of his brain. A quick dig into his closet produced a clean set of police clothes. He glanced once at the small stove in the corner and walked out.

He saw them right away. Two guys in slick leather jackets, their arms tattooed, their hair gelled, stood sipping coffee outside his apartment complex. He didn't care though, and nearly knocked their coffee out of their hands as he walked past them. He wanted to get to work. When he turned his first corner he saw them walking behind him but they were too bold, too open for it to be anything sinister. He took a few odd turns and double backs to make sure and they followed him every step of the way. One of them actually shot him a jaunty wink and smile. That did it. He stopped, turned and walked straight up to them.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"Seen us didja?" said the short one between leers.

"We got a message for ya," said the tall one with the teeth.

"What?" He didn't have time for this, not now, not today

"Your creditors got bought out see. We're your new bosses. You owe that money to us now, or rather, our betters." He winked again and as his hands moved up to make sure his stiff hair was still in place his left hand flashed a gang sign, tapping his index, middle, and ring fingers on the knuckles of his left hand. They were Triple Triad goons.

"What is this about?" Jinsu asked.

"We got a message from your creditors. You've been doing this little dance ever since Cabbage Corp took the dive. And then you had to go and be a cop which is no more fun for us than it is for you. You're a business man at heart. You were the man behind the face that built the future!"He gestured grandly like a schoolmaster and then looked hard at Jinsu, eyebrows furrowed in the effort. "The face was that Cabbage guy and you being the head engineer and all would make you the builder behind it." Jinsu folded his arms and the good said quickly, "You get the picture. We can give you a way to get rid of your dept _and_ reclaim a little somethin' of yours that was stolen from you.… 'Member that last big project Cabbage Corp was workin' on—the one you never got to finish—the thing that was gonna change the way the world worked?"

Jinsu nodded slowly. "Yeah I remember." He had no idea actually but he didn't think this goon had been given any details either.

"Yeah that one," the tall goon grinned again. "Debt gone and that back… all you gotta do is a little job for us…just take your time and think about it. Leave your answer with the fire flakes vender outside the station when you've made up your mind. She'll get it around to us." He raised his hand in farewell and the shorter goon spat on the ground. Jinsu stood on the dark empty street and watched them leave.

When he got the station he found Beifong with Dr. Quon. "I've just finished asking Dr. Quon what he knows about our kidnapper. Do you have any questions for him?"

Jinsu blinked at his commander and then when he realized she was seriously asking for his input he stuttered out a "Do you know where they've taken Lee and Senna?"

"No. I had no idea this was going to happen. I knew Daeyoon. She came to us with a fairly simple tumor extraction. The surgery was a success and we didn't hear about her for a while afterward. Then a few days ago she started sending to us notes but they sounded crazy and we couldn't understand them. We didn't really think too much of it. We thought that as her doctors she'd never do anything to hurt us." He looked around.

"But where are the rest of your team, Hachi and the like?"

"Hachikura is working on examining the weapons the kidnappers were using, trying to find out where they were manufactured. If we can find their factories it might lead us to Dr. Quenna Miin, Lee Wong and Senna," said Beifong.

"Oh," Quon looked down shyly. "I wanted to— I mean I never got to thank her for saving me." Jinsu shrugged and turned to Beifong.

"Do we have any idea where she might have taken them?"

"Maybe," Beifong ran a finger over her lips as if sealing a thought on her tongue. "I want you to follow up on one of our leads. We just got a tip off from a teahouse in the old earthbender district. They've been getting a patron come in pretty frequently who says he's a former equalist. His name is Shun and he doesn't like cops. I want you to go there undercover and see if you can get him to talk. The name of the place is 'The Wong Teahouse.'" Jinsu nodded and he was out the door in another minute.

It was only a little lighter when he got there. The clouds above him had transitioned from pitch to a gunmetal darkness that weighed on his eyes next to the garish green street lamps. A small hunched figure stood leaning against the wall of the teahouse. In the green light of the lamppost his liver spots made him look reptilian. This man looked older than even his partner, Lee.

"You the goon Beifong sent?" he said when Jinsu came up to him. He was surprised. He'd changed out of his uniform.

"Are you Shun?" he asked.

"Naw, Shun's inside drinking himself to death," said the man with slight jerk of his head to the shop. "Name's Shao Wong. I'm the one that called you here. Man this takes me back. The times I had to drag Lee out of trouble back in his terrorist days." He gave Jinsu a side-along glance. "He ever tell you about that?"

"No, he's a pretty private person."

Shao grunted. "Yeah, keeps his secrets he does. Lee Wong used to be a part of the Yu Dao Resistance group. Even after it became Republic City and The Fire Nation rescinded its claim to the land some of the old earth benders still thought it should be part of the Earth Kingdom. Lee used to run with them in his wilder days. …You should ask him if you want any details. He wasn't too free spoken with me after I quit the Earth Kingdom army after the war. I think he was jealous that he was too young to join up with me," Shao snorted and looked into his cup, murmuring, "Stupid thing to be jealous about. Not sure what changed his mind but cleaned up and joined the police force later on. Good thing too. If the force knew some of the things he'd done they'd have never let him in the front door."

How long was this man going to talk? "So," he said, "About this Shun guy."

Shao grunted again, the creases around his mouth deepening. "Right, business. He'll be in the back corner nursing his second cup of hard liquor. He only talks to other drunks though. And don't let him figure out you're police. Else he'll really shut up. I'll come in and get you a glass. What's your drink of choice?"

"What to do got here?"

"Usual stuff, sake, mead, tsingon beer, plum wine, I've been trying out this new stuff with tapioca balls in it but the liquor don't cut enough through the sweetness."

Jinsu rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "This mead you've got. It's made from honey isn't it?"

One of Shao's bushy white eyebrows curled down. "Yeah, think so."

"Do you know where this honey is made, I mean, is it farmed out in the Earth Kingdom plains?" Both of Shao's eyebrows were curled low now. "What I mean to say is, is this mead made from clover honey only or is it more eclectic stuff, because I only like clover honey?" Shao stared at him in silence for a moment.

"Yeah," his mouth drew the word slow out of the side of his sneering mouth. "Figured you would." He led Jinsu into the shop. "I'll get you cup of sake," his tone indicated that there wasn't much room for argument.

The inside of the shop was dim with green lamps and latticed walls. What wood was painted was peeling and the door rattled behind him when it shut. Shao slid him a small cup of material that would have been mistaken for water except for the smell. Jinsu took a small sip and staggered onto a bar stool. It went down smooth and warm but a few more sips of this and he wasn't going to be able to talk much less get Shun to. He swallowed and tried to look place was empty except for a shadowed figure huddled in the corner. Had the man been here all night?

Jinsu got up and when he got close to the haunted figure he tried to make his voice as deep and manly as possible.

"What'ya drinkin?"

The figure raised his head and Jinsu got a glimpse of red nose and a round red eyeball before a gruff voice said, "Sake." The eye looked over him for a moment. "What's your poison?" the sandpaper throat asked again.

Jinsu tried to work his voice to match the sandpaper. "Sake." It must have worked because the head nodded and the voice got warmer.

"Sit down, I hate drinkin alone." When Jinsu sat the man went right into it. "So, what's your story man?"

"Um, nothing really interesting." Jinsu's mind raced with nerves. Maybe if he just played it casual. "I'm sure a man like you has got to have seen some…" Jinsu chewed his lip looking for something clever to say, "stuff."

"Yeah I seen a lot of stuff. Nothing worth my neck tellin though."

"Aw come on man!" Jinsu drew out his words like he was drunker than he felt. "What's the point of drinking buddies if we're not sharing stories?"

Shun chuckled a little. "Yeah, guess so. And I could tell you some good stories, just don't go spreadin them around." He grinned at Jinsu and lowered his head furtively, "I am a former equalist, but since Amon was revealed to be a bender and there is no real way to remove bending I've been a lawful citizen since," His prideful expression soured, "Not that I have much choice. Ain't nothing gonna change about this world. There ain't no stoppin' benders. Take what they will when they want, won't they? No matter how many people say it's "The New Age" or whatever nationalist propaganda they're pumping out," he took another swig of sake and shook his head.

"Um, yeah world's pretty twisted," Jinsu bit his lip. He didn't need to hear about Amon he needed to hear about Tao.

"Drink! Drink!" insisted Shun as he lifted his cup. "Don't leave me drinking alone here!" Jinsu stood up abruptly.

"I need to go to the bathroom," he announced quickly and then went back up to the bar. Waving Shao Wong over, he whispered a few short instructions to him and then left his cup on the counter while he slipped into the bathroom. When he came out again his cup was exactly we he'd left it and Shao was rolling his eyes but Jinsu knew as soon as he picked his cup up that the man had done as he asked. He walked back to the table and took a drink where Shun could see him. The cup had been watered down a bit and it didn't make his head swim quite so much as it had the first time.

Shun hadn't seemed to notice his friend was back though. He was looking deep into his cup, his long red nose almost touching the liquor. His words came out soft and groaning. "Man, if I could just see Mao once I'd beg him to come home.

"Who's Mal?" Jinsu asked, not sure if he'd heard right. "Your brother or something?"

The man stiffened. "Can't tell you that. I can't let him get hurt."

And then because he couldn't think of anything else to do and he definitely did not want to risk drinking anymore, Jinsu flung his cup at the wall. It hit a wood post and shattered. Shun jumped and looked up appraising.

"Damn it man! If something is the matter you've got to tell somebody! How else is anything going to change?"

"Ah-ight man! Ah-ight. It's just, you know it's complicated. You can't tell anybody about his okay? You see, Mao is…" Shun's throat choked a little on the next words—"my son. Mao is my son. He's joined up with Daeyoon's splinter cell and I am worried about him. I don't trust this Daeyoon. I can't put my finger on it but there is something about her message that doesn't ring right to me.**" **He gulped down another swig of sake. "If I could see him just once I'd beg him to come home."

Shao came up to their table and plunked down another cup of hard liquor. He looked down at the shattered cup and whispered to Jinsu, "That's on your tab buddy."

"Drink! Drink!" insisted Shun beside him. Jinsu drank and was grateful he was sitting down this time. He had to wrap this up fast.

"Listen," he said- the drawl wasn't fake this time. "I've, I've taken a liking to you see, and I might know some people who know some people that could help you out with this. I, I just need a little more information to go on."

"What are you talking about? You can't help me."

"No Man!" Jinsu pounded the table forcefully. "We're drinkin buddies. We help each other out. I told you I know some people that know some people, just where do you think Mao might be?"

"Well, all right. I don't know for sure where Mao is but what I hear around town is that Daeyoon is using some of the old earth bender tunnels that were created back when there were still Yu Dao purists who roamed the streets fighting the firebenders—not too different from the equalists today in fact. I don't know which tunnels they are using but I know the area of town I was in when I saw that flyin zeppelin the other day- Yu Dao Square."

"Yu Dao Square?" repeated Jinsu.

"Yup, I don't know how you could possibly help but thanks for carin," he flung his arm around Jinsu and smiled at him nice and sweet. Then he took a long swig from his cup and passed out over the table.

"Woo-hoo!" Jinsu stood up and flung his hands into the air in success while Shao gave him a scandalized look from across the teahouse floor. But Jinsu didn't care. Now he finally had a place to start looking for his friends.

…

When Senna came to her senses she realized three things at once. One: she was tied firmly to a chair both around her arms and ankles. Two: she was gagged. Three: Daeyoon Tao was sitting in front of her, unbound with armed guards standing at attention behind her. Senna let out a loud moan that sounded uncannily like, "Bleeding Hogmonkies!" Someone else beside her let out a similar sound she turned her head. Lee Wong sat bound and gagged beside her too. Senna rolled her head back and strained at her bindings in frustration. Lee Wong just glared straight at Tao in a cold fury.

But when Daeyoon Tao spoke it was strangely polite. "I'm sorry about these ropes and guards. It's necessary for now but want you both to know I'm not going to let anyone hurt you," she turned her head to look both of them in the eye. "I know my defection is a surprise but since you're both here I wanted to try to explain why it's become necessary to do this." Daeyoon looked down at her folded hands interlaced into a tight boney lock. "Amon was…misguided but he wasn't completely wrong. This continued level of inequality between benders and nonbenders can't go on, a nonbender president isn't going to be enough to change anything. Inequality has made our society sick… recovery is never an easy process, not for the body, not for society."

She looked back up at Senna and Lee but her eyes were somewhere distant. "I've thought a lot about power and the nature of it. Amon was right that inequality exists because power exists; because bending is simply too powerful for a nonbender to compete. It's not the nonbender's fault that they're worthless," she shrugged, "It's just the nature of power. The Avatar and all her nonsense about finding balance—that's always been about finding balance between other benders between different forms of bending. It's not an evil thing but the role of the Avatar functions from a world view that pretends that nonbenders do not exist. It's impossible to have a balance between benders and nonbenders because by their very nature, benders are powerful and nonbenders are weak, and ultimately worthless to the world. I'm sure that both of you have seen enough of the world to know that what I'm saying is true."

She looked at Lee when she said this and her voice seemed almost pleading, her eyes deferential. "So Amon was right to a point. The only way to correct inequality is to destroy power itself, but he thought that the only way to do that was to destroy bending. But his goal didn't work because the only way to destroy bending was through more bending. If he had won he wouldn't have destroyed power, he would've made it more powerful by making it rare." She stood up and started pacing back and forth in front of them. "You see I'm not really an Equalist anymore. I know that Amon's goals would have only extended the destruction of inequality by making more nonbenders to be oppressed. And I didn't know what the answer was and for a long time after he fell I was near despair. When the doctors diagnosed me with the tumor I didn't think there was any hope. But then I met Dr. Miin and Dr. Lo and they gave me something I don't think even they full understand. A few days after surgery I realized I had power. I'm a bender now."

She laughed a little to herself when she said it, a faint blush coming to her cheeks. She turned back to Lee and Senna and it did not sound like she was talking to herself anymore. "And that's when I realized that the other way to end inequality was to end nonbenders—to find a way to give everyone bending. A nonbender has no value in the world, a nonbender is worthless, but now we have the chance to make ourselves into something different. That's why I needed Dr. Miin. I sent them letters beforehand but they, I don't think they understood. But I can make her understand now. With the Doctor's work we can give everyone who is born the power to bend the elements. We'll establish a new stable balance where we won't need the Avatar because we will become our own avatars. Society can't fix itself. But if you work with me then we can fix it."

She looked straight into both of their eyes as she spoke and held out her hands pleading. "There's nothing special about me but I've been given power and if I don't use it responsibly then—" she looked down, a little of the loose strands of her pony tail brushing in front of her eyes—"there is no point to me." But when she looked up again her voice had regained its sense of force. "So I'm asking you to join me. Lee Wong, I can give you the power you've fought for your whole life, Senna I know you're the policewoman I didn't think could exist. You thirst for justice and equality the same as I do. Join me and we can give worth to every life in Republic City."

Then she turned to her guards. "Take my guests to their rooms so that they may consider what I have told them. I will come to each of them privately, answer any questions they might have and receive their answer."

…..

Shao led Jinsu to Yu Dao Square. The sun had come up by now and everywhere businesses were unlocking their doors. The buildings in the Old Earthbender district were definitely old. Many needed a fresh coat of paint and a few were even abandoned but it was not as forlorn as the old Firebender district had been. Jinsu spied a few shops here and there looking newly renovated. Most of them were artist studios, or earth bender cultural centers. The place was old but it was not abandoned.

They turned a corner and came to a sprawling park. The grass needed cutting badly and the playground in the shape of the Earth Kingdom palace was rusting some. a little to the side, in the middle of a lake inhabited by a noisy turtle duck family, stood a statue of the old Earth Kingdom Emperor. Jinsu recognized him from his history books. In the center of the park, a huge iron and gilt statue of Bosco the Bear stood, holding out a small sprig from an olive tree.

"So how do we find this thing?" asked Shao.

"Shush." Jinsu walked around the playground as if inspecting it then jumped onto the swings and gave himself a hard push into the air. When the swing reached the apex he jumped and stuck the landing, a silly grin on his face. Shao rolled his eyes and found a park bench. Jinsu decided to examine the Bear statue first. Closing his eyes, his foot struck out hard and hit the ground at an angle. He felt the reverberations echo below him. There defiantly was a tunnel running underneath the park but he couldn't locate the opening. It wasn't under the Bear statue though. He wandered over to the pond and sat down by the edge trying to think of something. He took a small stone and skipped it across the pond where it hit the side of a small turtle duckling. Yapping viciously two larger turtle ducks swam up to Jinsu. Taking two low hanging corners of his shirt the mama and papa turtleducks yanked him into the water before he realized what was happening. In the split second moment when he blinked confusedly underwater Jinsu got a look at the hollow underside of the Emperor's statue standing in the middle of the pond. A set of steps seemed to lead from the bottom of the pool up into the statue itself.

He came up spluttering. The mama and papa turtle duck had retreated back to their family. He ignored their self-satisfied quacks and looked at the statue. It wasn't very big, really not much bigger than a normal human, but maybe if one squatted… He dove back under and swam up the steps. The inside of the iron statue made the soft laps of the water ring wildly in his ears. Jinsu wondered if the chaotic reverberations of the water had blocked his earlier attempt to trace the opening because square in the center of the statue was an open man hole.

Jinsu looked into the dark black opening of the tunnel and chewed his lip. Senna's voice, sharp and commanding seemed to echo back to him across the water. If he was going to find his mentors it would be by following their advice. Jinsu went back underwater and got out of the fountain. His clothes were sopping and he hung his jacket and shoes on the jungle gym to dry. Then, barefoot, he ran across the street to a payphone. A secretary forwarded him to Beifong. "I've found a possible lead on the Tao's hiding spot. I need back up."

Beifong didn't ask for details. "I'm sending Kairos to you right away. Just sit tight." Jinsu hung up the phone.

The inside of the tunnel was pitch and wet. He could hear the faint gurgles of pentapi and creeping slim sliding along the walls and he tucked his elbows in. His stone sense kept him from bumping into anything.

Further down the steep tunnel he began to perceive a faint green light coming from a corner turn up ahead. As he neared closer he heard a voice that cracked with youth between every word, "Man I hate guard duty."

"Shut up Mao," said the second deeper voice, "We're the first line of defense. We need to keep quiet."

"Yeah all right."

Jinsu breathed in through his nose and out his mouth. Then he flung himself around the corner, his fist punching forward. A thick shard of rock shot out of the ground and hit the older one square in the chest. He fell to the ground snarling, the shovel in his hand clattering against the rocky floor. The younger one reacted faster than Jinsu had expected. In a second he had a hand on him, and Jinsu shouted in surprise as a sharp electric current ran up his shoulder. He jerked away and with a grunt of bent knees he pulled his hands up as if lifting a weighted pole. Rock and gravel rose with him and coated his fingers, his hand, wrist, elbow and shoulders. Jinsu gave the terrified young guard a smirk before a shovel hit his head with a loud clang. The first man had gotten back on his feet again. Jinsu spun his rock arms hitting the older guard across the head and chest. When he fell down this time he was limp and his head bounced a little on the floor.

"HIII-YAH!" the younger guards voice rang off the tunnel walls as he lunged for Jinsu, his electric glove sparking, his fingers curled into a fist. When it thudded lightly against the rock armor on his arm Jinsu gave the boy a soft smile. Then he brought his hand up and in the next instant the boy was down.

Jinsu tied both of them up and carried them one at a time back to the surface. Shao looked almost impressed at the haul.

"Take this one back to the station," Jinsu said, pointing at the older guard. "But I think this one, Mao, is my old drinking buddy Shun's son. Take him back to your teashop. Maybe if Shun gets his son back he'll make for a useful informant later on."

"So, what are you going to do, wait for backup?" asked Shao.

Jinsu smirked at him.

The door wasn't locked. When he put his ear to it he could hear the sounds of voices and heavy thuds. He had eased the door open just a few centimeters when he froze. His mouth moved in a silent, "Hogmonkies!" He ran his fingers through his hair, nodded and muttered softly to himself, "Yup, let's wait for backup."

….

Senna's eyes fluttered slowly and snapped open. She was lying on the wood floor of an empty barracks room. Bunk beds lined the walls. She was propped up against the foot of one like a rag doll. Lee sat across the narrow aisle in front of her.

Lee looked around anxiously. His cane was gone. That was not good.

"Are you ok?" Senna asked. Her shoulder moved as if she meant to reach out to him. "I can't seem to move. I think she did something to me."

Lee stared at her with cold narrow eyes that did not flinch.

"What did she do to you back in the cell?"

When Lee spoke it was slow like hot iron pouring into a mold. "I'm not telling you that."

Senna's left eyebrow went up. "Lee what are you talking about? We need to get out of here before anybody comes back."

"Why should I go with you? I don't know you. I don't know if I can trust you."

Senna looked as if she'd had the wind blown out of her, "Lee, It's me, Senna—you can't think I would actually-?"

"I don't know who you are."

"You mean you don't remember me?"

Lee's steal grey eyebrows narrowed. "Should I?"

Senna gaped at him. "I'm in your police team, Division42. When Daeyoon took me back to my cell she asked me to join her and when I told her to go shove it two doctors came in and gave me an injection. Did she do something like that to you too?"

Lee regarded her steadily as if unsure whether or not he wanted to give the information. "Yeah something like that happened to me. But I still don't know who you are if I can trust you. Daeyoon Tao might've put you in here to trick me." Lee shifted a bit where he lay. He could feel some strength returning back to him. Soon he could get up and leave.

"Maybe the serum she gave you messed with your head a bit."

"Or maybe you're just a spy."

"Lee, can't you remember me? I'm Senna, I'm your partner. You and I are kind of the defacto leaders of Division 42 since most of the rest of the team are new to the force. Do you remember Hachikura, the young savant electricity bender, or Jinsu, the former CEO who's still not used to getting his hands dirty? What about Kairos? You can't forget Kairos—the guy with all the tea bags hanging out of his uniform pockets! But you can't think that I would help Daeyoon! I'm the one who's unhealthily dedicated to police work! I would never do something against what my hero, Katara, spent her life trying to build!"

Lee hadn't blinked but there were creases of thought deep across his balding head. "I remember the mission. I remember Tao stole the doctors. I remember getting taken. But," Lee's voice was iron, "I don't remember you."

Senna kneaded her forehead with her fingers, not even registering that she'd regained the use of her arms again. "Lee we have to get out of here. We can't get out alone!"

"Your passion at least, has convinced me that you're not a spy. I would like to ask you some questions that only a true police officer would know. If you answer them then I'll trust you- for now."

"Okay, yes, fine."

"What is our panda-dog mascot's name?"

"Scruffy," Senna snorted as if the name annoyed her.

"Who won the last noodle eating contest?" Lee smiled as he asked this one.

"You did," Senna rolled her eyes. Even with memory loss he wouldn't let anyone forget that incident.

"Good. Last question: which police officer in the force has the smelliest locker?"

Senna's lip curled as if remembering the smell. "The other Lee."

"Right." Lee nodded, and then stood up, slowly. Grabbing a post from the nearby bunk beds headboard he gave a yank and ripped off a makeshift cane. He tested it. Except for the splinters on either end it would have to do.

Senna looked around for her water flask as she stood up but even the belt she'd worn it on was gone. No matter, there was a full wash basin by the door. She raised her hands and pulled to create a floating water ball, something she could use if they got into a fight. It was a good plan, except that nothing happened. The water remained absolutely still.

Lee looked at her like she was an idiot. Senna tried again, panic rising in her chest. There wasn't even a ripple. Senna looked at her hands in horror. What had happened to her when she was blacked out?

Lee just shrugged and approached the door. He was prepared to pick locks or break wood but it slid open as soon as he touched it. He wasn't sure if that was a good or bad sign. Outside the door was a long empty hallway with one open door frame at the end.

"I hear machinery moving down that that way," said Senna, pointing to the right.

"Let's see what is down there then." Lee grinned and his smile had none of the warmth she'd grown used to seeing. Even in the heat of their last battle he'd seemed calm and content. She wondered if he had forgotten his wife and grandchildren too.

When they peaked around the corner at the end of the hall they both swore softly. The hall opened up into a large warehouse. Boxes and moving trucks filled their half end of the warehouse. Men and women in equalist uniform walked around packing things up, and huge mecha was helping them, with a door just past it at the other end of the warehouse. An exit sign hung above it.

"We're not in uniform," whispered Senna. And there are a lot of boxes we could hide behind. Maybe nobody will recognize us?"

Lee swallowed. "Okay then, act casual."

And it worked. Nobody even glanced at them. As they came along side of the mecha tank Senna was furtively looking around trying to see if there was any open water in the room. The only thing she could see was some exhaust heat coming from the back pipes of the mecha. She bit her lip and took a chance.

When the mecha made a loud creak, dropped his load and shut down people started to congregate around the machine.

"Somebody know how to fix this?" she heard somebody cry. Lee gave her a suspicious glance over her shoulder, but she repressed her smile of relief. It wasn't completely gone.

Free of the crowds Lee decided to speed things up. He ducked behind a large box and then dashed across the warehouse. He stopped when he reached the halfway point. The rest of the way was open space. As long as everyone remained sufficiently distracted by the damaged mecha he and Senna should be able to make it to the exit no problem.

Just then the exit door clanged open and Lee heard his name shrieked with all the grating finesse of a Chris Tucker fan boy, "LEE!" Jinsu was running to him across the warehouse floor, his rock-covered arms making him an even bigger target. Kairos was right behind him.

"Hey, look, a shovel!" Kairos picked up the fallen guard's heavy iron weapon grinning.

Four equalists rushed up to Jinsu their hands glittering with the green light of their gloves. His rock coated arms blocked most of their attacks but he brought up a wall of earth anyway and pushed them back from him. Lee could see Kairos over in the back spinning the shovel and coating it in water experimentally. Lee knocked his head against the side of a wooden crate in frustration.

On the other side of the warehouse Senna was trying to catch up to Lee while keeping an eye on the mecha. She seemed to have damaged it a little but it was starting to move again. Maybe she'd have a better shot taking the driver out. As she ducked around a corner she saw an open water barrel and grinned.

The crowd of equalists around the mecha scattered as a broken glass rained down on them from the mecha's cockpit above. A long jagged ice spike had pierced through the glass and knocked out the driver, who fell out the window.

Seeing his opportunity Lee jumped onto the crates and made a dash for the empty mecha. A gang of gloved chi blockers turned and attacked and he spun his makeshift cane around him, knocking three off their feet.

Another batch of chi blockers were running up to Kairos, who smiled and swung his water-coated shovel around with more than a little flair. Unfortunately water and metal are excellent conductors of electricity. His normally tousled hair seemed to have forgotten gravity by the time he'd knocked them all down. When Senna threw her hands up at him a silent gesture to move his butt to the mecha Kairos said, "What? I took them all out in one shot, seriously, no applause for that?"

Senna looked back over at the mecha tank. Another chi blocker had climbed into the cockpit. The hands of the mecha glowed and three spinning sparking discs shot out towards Jinsu. Jinsu dodged the first two but the third caught around his left leg. Gritting through the pain he stamped his foot and sent a minor quake through the ground. The mecha tank wobbled on its three large legs but held.

Senna sent another ice punch into the chest of the new driver and he slumped over the controls.

Pulling out a water whip Kairos attacked the back of the mecha. "No!" shouted Jinsu as sparks flew from the interior of the tank and a loud bang went off. As smoke from the broken mecha filled the warehouse roof Jinsu swore at Kairos, "I wanted to drive that thing!"

"Well, I wanted to take it down!" Kairos shouted back.

"Guys stop arguing and take out the bad guys!" shrieked Senna as she ran up to them across the warehouse floor. She carried an orb of water in one hand and she drew back her arm to attack the chi blockers still intent on take getting past Jinsu's defense the orb lost its form and sloshed down her sleeve as her bending strength slipped yet again.

Senna let out an "Aggh!" of frustration and just settled for punching the nearest chi blocker in the face. As he fell a trail of saliva froze in midair after him and she redirected the liquid through the glass face of their electric gloves. Kairos took one out with his shovel and Jinsu hit the last one in the back of the head with his rock arms.

Over on top of a pile of boxes Lee Wong was still struggling with the last few remaining chi blockers. He feinted to the left and then made a jab to get the to fall into the other two chi blockers beside him but the chi blocker was younger and quicker than he anticipated. He dodged him and then began to laugh unnaturally loudly in his face. His eyes even teared up a bit.

There was a loud "Sikt" in the air and then the laughing man's face froze, his skull impaled by a long narrow ice knife. "Sikt, Sikt." Lee heard the other two chi blockers around him slump to the ground dead, blood streaming from their impaled skulls. Lee stood in the middle of a circle of dead bodies, unharmed and very confused.

"Well," said Kairos breaking the silence. "Now I can use my shovel to bury these people." Senna looked scandalized at the obvious glee on his face.

"Well I would have a mecha right now but instead we have a shovel so we've got that going for us!" said Jinsu.

"Guys, just—" Senna started and then just shrugged, "It's good to see you all again."

….

Back at the station Lee Wong and Senna filled their team in about Daeyoon's master plan.

"She just kept monologuing!" Senna threw her head back in exasperation.

"Yeah she basically told her evil plan to us," said Lee.

"She plans on artificially giving people bending. She plans on making everyone avatars."

"Really?" Kairos sat up. "That actually sounds pretty cool."

"No," Lee looked over his fingers with narrowed eyes, "no its not."

"But I kind of like this idea though. It'd be cool to be able to firebend as well as waterbend." Kairos leaned back in his chair, his eyes glassy with the thought of it.

"But she's using terrorist tactics!" Senna insisted. "Her goals are good but it's the way she's going about it. Plus she went from being a nonbender to a bloodbending water bender. This method gives you a lot of power much too fast- like steroids.

"And she thinks nonbenders are worthless," seethed Lee Wong. "She thinks she eradicating inequality but she's perpetuating it."

"Yeah, it's not going to fix the problem. People will still discriminate against others, maybe if you can't pay for the procedure or they'll discriminate against people who bought their powers versus those who are born with them," Senna hair was coming loose from her braids and her eyes were wide and accusing.

"Okay, okay!" Kairos held his hands up. "Fine, I get it. I was just thinking about how nice it would have been, when I was a kid after my mom got taken, if I could have been a firebender too. I might've been able to protect myself better that way. It was just a personal fantasy. I get it now- jeesh."

Jinsu looked back and forth between his teammates, sucking his bottom lip thoughtfully.

At that moment a tiny old woman entered the police department on the far end of the room "Is Lee okay?" they heard her ask the secretary.

"Who's this old hag?" Lee gestured angrily at her.

Hearing his voice, the woman's head turned. She spotted him and ran up, half-shouting, "Lee, you're going to drive me straight to heaven one of these days!" Then, before anyone else could react she wrapped her arms around Lee's neck, pulled him down and kissed him full on the mouth.

There was an awkward moment where his teammates were frantically trying to find something else to stare at. When they broke apart Lee was looking down at her with a clear expression. "Xiuying," he said her name softly, some of the humor returned to his eyes. He looked around, "Oh, it's you guys!"

Dr. Quon Lo came rushing in from the front doors. "I heard you rescued-!" but he stopped short when he saw Senna and Lee Wong. "— Dr. Quenna," his face fell as he saw she wasn't here. "Were you able to rescue Dr. Quenna Miin?"

Lee shook his head sadly. "We didn't see her there."

"Oh-" Dr. Quon looked down. "I thought maybe…" he swallowed.

"We'll keep looking for her, don't worry," said Jinsu. He put a hand on Quon's shoulder. Dr. Quon looked up at him and smiled bleakly, but then froze when he saw Kairos.

"You—what's your name?"

"Kairos."

"You don't," he licked his lips. "You don't have any family in Republic City do you?"

"No. I did have a mom once but she got taken from me when I was very young- why?"

"You…" he licked his lips again. "You look uncannily like this patient I had a few weeks ago, only…"

"Who was it?"

"I didn't get her name. She, well she came into the clinic with some cuts and looking like she'd been in a fight. I cleaned her up quickly and sent her away because she, well she was hanging out with some shady characters. She came in with Lightning Bolt Zolt."

"Where have I heard that name again?" murmured Jinsu.

"He's the former Firebending leader of the Triple Triad gang," said Lee, "before Amon removed his bending."

"Yeah, and even without his bending he's a scary character," said Dr. Quon.

"Do you think she's my mom? Is she okay?"

"There's got to be some relation, she looks uncannily like yourself. And she should be fine provided she didn't get into any more fights."

But Kairo's normally pensive face was glowing. "My mom is in Republic City," he savored the words on his tongue.

"Don't get your hopes up too much," cautioned Dr. Quon.

At that moment Beifong opened her office door. "Division42, in here," she commanded. Lee kissed his wife again and tousling her hair, told her to wait outside for a moment. When the door of her office was shut Beifong put their report on the table. "This is a good day for the police force. Everyone got out safely. Jinsu in particular proved that he's no longer the white collar rookie he was when he came in here. You effectively neutralized one of their holdouts and we're that much closer to rescuing Dr. Miin. Well done soldiers." The team members beamed at each other. Senna made sure she was standing with good posture.

"However this is one thing that bothers me about your report." Beifong put her hands behind her back. "This assassin worries me. Did those ice spikes really pierce their skull like that?"

"That's what we saw Ma'am," said Senna.

"But you do realize that's impossible right? No water bender we know can tear through bone. Some of the stronger ones can rip through flesh but usually only by blood bending. What you're suggesting is impossible."

The team looked around at each other, as if unsure what to say.

"Well if we come across anymore deaths like that we'll know to follow up on it," said Lee. "The important thing to note here is that there is some other group or outside faction, other than ourselves, who is also interested in taking down Daeyoon Tao. I propose that we focus our investigation on finding out more about that. If there is an underground war between different groups of criminals we might be able to take advantage of it."

Beifong nodded slowly. "Yes, you make a good point." She looked up, "We'll follow up more on this later but for now I think your rescue is occasion enough to take a break. Go out tonight and celebrate. That's an order."

The team saluted, "Yes Ma'am."

As the team left the station to go celebrate Jinsu caught the eye of the fire flakes vender across the street. The old vender had her arms crossed, eyes unblinking. Jinsu paused for a moment, chewing over the deal the triad members had offered to him of getting rid of his dept. He swallowed and then nodded at the vender once. The vender nodded back, slowly and then began to pack up her cart.

"Old friend of yours?" asked Senna.

"Yeah," said Jinsu, and he looked away from her.


End file.
